This story originally appeared in Mondoweiss on Aug. 11, 2025. It is shared here with permission.
The Israeli army assassinated Al Jazeera correspondent Anas al-Sharif and several of his colleagues on Sunday in a targeted airstrike on a journalists’ tent outside al-Shifa Hospital in Gaza City. The strike has effectively wiped out the entire staff of Al Jazeera in Gaza City, claiming the lives of one child and six journalists, including Al Jazeera correspondent Muhammad Qreiqeh.
Widely celebrated as the “voice of Gaza,” al-Sharif’s assassination comes after months of incitement against him and puts an end to his coverage ahead of an expected Israeli invasion of Gaza City. The Israeli army has reportedly given Gaza City residents until October 7 to evacuate, when the Israeli army plans to invade northern Gaza as part of its stated plan of conquering the entire Strip.
Al-Sharif and Qreiqeh each have two children. Both stayed behind in northern Gaza as their families fled south when Israel forcibly displaced the population at the beginning of the genocide in late 2023.
Shortly after the airstrike that killed al-Sharif and his colleagues, the Israeli army released a statement claiming that al-Sharif was a member of Hamas and was responsible for “rocket attacks” on Israeli civilians and soldiers.
The Israeli army claimed that “intelligence and documents from Gaza” allegedly “proved he was a Hamas operative.”
In October 2024, the Israeli army published the names of al-Sharif and five other journalists who it claimed were Hamas and Palestinian Islamic Jihad fighters. One of those journalists, Drop Site contributor and Al Jazeera Mubasher correspondent Hossam Shabat, was assassinated on March 24, 2025. Another journalist on the “hit list” was Anas al-Sharif.
Israel has killed 238 journalists in Gaza since the start of the genocide, the Gaza Government Media Office said in a statement on Monday.
“The targeting of journalists and media institutions is a full-fledged war crime that aims to silence the truth and erase evidence of the genocide,” the Media Office added, asserting that the latest assassination of al-Sharif is “a prelude” to the Israeli plan to carry out massacres in Gaza City.
‘Their bodies burned alive’
The killing of al-Sharif and Qreiqeh has led to the outpouring of widespread anger and grief among Palestinians and journalists in Gaza, who consider the assassination a direct message to all other journalists in the Strip.
Muhammad Qeqa, a journalist who witnessed the killing of his colleagues, stands in front of the tent while the blood is still on the ground. He tells Mondoweiss that he is not only a witness to the incident; he is a part of it.
“My feet are barely holding me up from what I witnessed,” he said. “So far, I can’t believe that I survived. I’m a part of this massacre.”
Qeqa was only 4 meters away from the tent when it was bombed. He was inside his tent right next to the one belonging to Al Jazeera. “I saw Anas’s body flying out of the tent as the bomb hit. I stepped away, because the fire was unbearable. Then I came back quickly to find Muhammad and Anas’s bodies burning alive.”
“I was documenting the incident, but at some point, I needed to rescue my colleagues. I put my phone away and tried to rescue Muhammad Qreiqeh, whose lower body was on fire. We pulled him out of the tent, but it was too late,” Qeqa said.
“This is a crime against us all as journalists in Gaza. Anas was our voice,” Qeqa continued. “History will not bring back anyone like him who carried his soul on his palm despite Israel’s threats against him and his family.”
Israeli incitement against al-Sharif
In previous interviews for Anas Al-Sherif, he was clearly saying that there is an Israeli incitement campaign against him led by the Arabic Language Israeli spokesperson Avichay Adraee and some fake accounts on social media. But he was not hesitating to stop his duty.
“Since October, 2023, there has been an Israeli campaign against me to stop my coverage of the news in northern Gaza,” al-Sharif said in an interview published online.
“I did not respond to these threats and kept fulfilling my duty,” he continued. “The army attempted to assassinate me several times, but by God’s grace, I managed to survive. But the Israeli army kept carrying out its threats, bombing my home on December 11, 2023, killing my father.”
Al-Sharif also confirmed that his family had received threatening calls on three separate occasions from the Israeli army to deter him from continuing coverage. “Despite these threats, I always consider my work as my duty, to convey the voices and the suffering of my people.”
Al-Sharif’s last will and testament
Aware that he would remain a target of the Israeli army, al-Sharif wrote his last will and testament in advance. It was published on his social media accounts following his assassination. Below are his final words:
“This is my will and my final message. If these words reach you, know that Israel has succeeded in killing me and silencing my voice. First, peace be upon you and Allah’s mercy and blessings.
Allah knows I gave every effort and all my strength to be a support and a voice for my people, ever since I opened my eyes to life in the alleys and streets of the Jabalia refugee camp. My hope was that Allah would extend my life so I could return with my family and loved ones to our original town of occupied Asqalan (Al-Majdal). But Allah’s will came first, and His decree is final. I have lived through pain in all its details, tasted suffering and loss many times, yet I never once hesitated to convey the truth as it is, without distortion or falsification—so that Allah may bear witness against those who stayed silent, those who accepted our killing, those who choked our breath, and whose hearts were unmoved by the scattered remains of our children and women, doing nothing to stop the massacre that our people have faced for more than a year and a half.
I entrust you with Palestine—the jewel in the crown of the Muslim world, the heartbeat of every free person in this world. I entrust you with its people, with its wronged and innocent children who never had the time to dream or live in safety and peace. Their pure bodies were crushed under thousands of tons of Israeli bombs and missiles, torn apart and scattered across the walls.
I urge you not to let chains silence you, nor borders restrain you. Be bridges toward the liberation of the land and its people, until the sun of dignity and freedom rises over our stolen homeland.”
This content originally appeared on The Real News Network and was authored by Tareq S. Hajjaj.